First Impressions
by goddessofshadows7212
Summary: What if Misaka Mikoto met Accelerator on the same night she met Nunotaba Shinobu, just after Accelerator had finished an experiment? One chance encounter causes her to question the supposedly frozen project of the Level 5 clones. One-shot.


**I have come back to this fandom!**

… **With a one-shot. Anyways, this is based off Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 3, after Mikoto finds out about the project. Enjoy!**

Misaka Mikoto jumped out of the research building she had infiltrated just half an hour earlier, using her magnetism to jump onto another building. She then climbed down, landing softly at the entrance of an alley that was a little ways off from the research building. Only then did she allow herself a moment of quiet triumph.

"Thank goodness the entire project was frozen. I really have been worrying over nothing. Well, time to go back. I hope Kuroko managed to fool the Dorm Mistress."

Humming a tune quietly, Mikoto walked into the alley, making it halfway through before she heard footsteps that did not belong to her. Glancing up, she saw a white-haired figure strolling through the alley with its head down, walking in her direction. The person was too far away to make out any features, and he or she apparently didn't notice the brown-haired girl yet.

Mikoto waited until the person was only a few metres in front of her, and then she started to say "Excuse me—"

She never got to finish her sentence. Just a metre before they collided, Mikoto felt something like a force field crash into her, sending her flying back. Too shocked to do anything, she crashed painfully into a metal pole.

"Ow..." Mikoto slowly staggered onto her feet, leaning on the pole she just crashed into for support. Every fibre of her being screamed in agony. She glared at the white-haired figure. "What was that for—"

"Huh? I bumped into something?" Judging from the voice, it was definitely a boy. He brushed his white hair away from his eyes, bloodred eyes meeting with brown irises.

At that very moment, Mikoto's instincts screamed at her to run, but she stayed there, frozen.

The boy had a look about him that screamed "danger". His lips tilted up ever so slightly in a sadistic smirk that chilled Mikoto to the bones. While his lanky figure wasn't that threatening, the aura of confidence and power that surrounded him was more than enough to make up for that. For a split second, a look of surprise flashed across his pale face as he saw Mikoto's features. "Another one? I thought I finished for tonight," he muttered. The words were almost too soft for Mikoto to hear. "No, wait..." His smile returned, albeit a small one. "The original," he intoned. "What are you doing here?"

Mikoto stared at him blankly, the word 'original' repeating over and over in her head. Her senses returned long enough for her to ask a question. "Who are you?"

"I asked first, _Railgun_ ," the boy said, putting emphasis on her title. His sadistic smile grew, and the girl felt shivers run down her spine.

"I won't answer unless you tell me who you are," Mikoto said defiantly. "You know who I am, so who are you?"

To her surprise, the boy looked mildly disappointed. "A fellow Level 5 doesn't know the others in the same rank as her," he mused. "But that look around you screams the fact that you've never bothered to find out more about the others. And you obviously haven't been into the darkness of this city, have you? If you have, you would have heard of me more often than usual."

 _A fellow Level 5._ Mikoto's mind went blank with terror. She had only dealt with Shoukuhou Misaki once at Tokiwadai, and the busty blonde didn't even do anything besides threaten her by mind-controlling the other students. Even if she was ranked below Mikoto, Misaki's powers were incredibly strong. But here was another Level 5 she couldn't identify, and a terrifying one at that. And judging by his appearance and words, she guessed he was tangled deep in the web of darkness, and he _didn't seem to care._

Seeing that she was still silent, the boy sighed and stepped back so he could lean against the wall. "What are they teaching brats these days? You're a Level Five, third-rate. To the Level Fives, the world is like a series of building blocks. But to an innocent, naïve little brat who doesn't even look like a Level Five, I suppose—"

"Shut up!" Mikoto, hearing his insulting words, snapped with anger and instinctively grabbed an arcade coin from her pocket and fired a Railgun at the boy. Realizing her mistake too late, she looked on in shock as the blast bounced away from the boy and was redirected to the sky.

The boy had remained silent throughout the entire ordeal, the sadistic smile disappearing from his lips to be replaced by a disappointed expression. "I'm disappointed in you, Railgun. I thought the original was supposed to be stronger, but seriously..." He spread his hands and shrugged. "I overestimated you by a lot. You barely deserve the title of third-ranked, much less the title of a Level Five."

"You..." Now Mikoto was mad. Ignoring the pain of her aching limbs, she stood up, sparks of electricity crackling around her head. "I don't know which Level Five you are, but you _will_ answer my questions!"

"A mouthy brat, aren't you? And a spoiled one at that. I don't have to answer your questions. At least—" his voice dropped to a mutter "—your clones are way quieter."

That word froze Mikoto on the spot again. "B-but...isn't...the project...frozen?" She stuttered out.

The boy pushed himself off the wall and began approaching her slowly, taking slow steps. "Frozen? But what happened to the clones that already existed to test their theories?" He feigned a surprised look. "I gave the game away, didn't I? Figure that out for yourself, _third-rate_. Wake up, brat. When are you going to find out that being a naïve child won't help you survive the darkness of this city?"

"No way..." Mikoto whispered. Her eyes met with bloodred ones, pleading for it all to be fake, but deep down, she knew the boy was telling the bitter truth.

He walked past her, pausing only to whisper, "Start living up to the actual potential a Level 5 is supposed to have, number 3. I'd place you at rank 7 considering electricity is the only thing you can bring to the table—heck, even putting you at Level 4 would make more sense. You only got the title because of the scientists' interest in you, not your power. A Level 5 isn't a Level 5 unless they've touched the darkness of their domain."

With that, the white-haired boy walked away, leaving Mikoto behind, staring ahead blankly in shock. Just as he disappeared, a name finally clicked in her mind.

 _Accelerator...the first-ranked level 5..._

Mikoto slowly stood up, walking through the same alley, placing a trembling hand on the wall to steady herself. She had just met the freaking _first-ranked level 5 esper,_ the one whose name evoked feelings of terror from everyone in Academy City, the one who was rumoured to kill anyone who annoyed him. He had insulted her and had taunted her. But she was _alive_ after her encounter with him.Yet, Mikoto's mind quickly switched to the words Accelerator had calmly thrown out while he spoke with her.

 _What happened to the clones that had already existed?_

 _Original..._

 _Not as powerful as I thought..._

 _I overestimated you..._

 _A Level 5 isn't a Level 5 unless they've touched the darkness of their domain..._

"Stop it..." Mikoto whispered, hands clutching her temples. "Stop it!" The words echoed and reechoed through her brain, and a small, rational part of her brain wondered how Accelerator's simple words and voice were enough to terrify her to the point of near insanity.

Her body finally gave way and she collapsed on the cold asphalt, shock settling in and numbing her body.

Her vision slowly darkened, but one thought rang out clear in her mind as she shut her eyes.

 _I've...been lied to...again...the_ _project...was never stopped...why?_

 **If this actually happened in canon, I wonder what would have happened.**

 **Leave a review if you want! Flames will be used in the future to burn my report cards.**

 **~goddessofshadows7212**


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